Network Vision/LTE - Orlando Market

[jamisonshaw125]

That's how it is for me, I stay connected to LTE all the way from my home to my office and back but once I get into my house, dead zone - except for my bedroom window, get about 5mbps down from there.

In my solarium which sticks out kids compared to the rest of the building so it picks up a slight signal, I get LTE but it goes back and forth. I can't wait till they get the tower on alafaya up. That should improve this area big time. Averaging about 4 down right now on that under hill tower. Pretty good, except I can't get it anywhere except my solarium in my apartment LOL.

[jamisonshaw125]

More and more LTE everywhere I go more often! Come on Orlando just launch already. We know sprint just wants to show off to att and Verizon so bad... Or maybe that's just me...

 

????????

Edited November 7, 2013 by jamisonshaw125

[UCFKnight]

Well, just got back from the Sprint store...with a new Nexus 5! Got rid of the EVO. Let me just say, this thing is a BEAST, gets a better signal than the Evo LTE could anyday.

[jacobgomez]

UCFKnight,

 

Have you had any of the LTE problems that many are reporting with the Nexus 5?  I'm still really torn between the Moto X and Nexus 5 but the lack of tri-band support in the Moto X makes me lean heavily towards the Nexus 5.  I know LTE isn't officially rolled out here in Orlando yet but I'm able to pick it up most places I travel on my Galaxy Nexus so I wouldn't want to be stuck on 3G while they figure that out.

 

I'm curious if the slow LTE rollout in Orlando could be due to the fact that they are working on Sprint Spark as well.  One could hope, I guess.

[UCFKnight]

UCFKnight,

 

Have you had any of the LTE problems that many are reporting with the Nexus 5?  I'm still really torn between the Moto X and Nexus 5 but the lack of tri-band support in the Moto X makes me lean heavily towards the Nexus 5.  I know LTE isn't officially rolled out here in Orlando yet but I'm able to pick it up most places I travel on my Galaxy Nexus so I wouldn't want to be stuck on 3G while they figure that out.

 

I'm curious if the slow LTE rollout in Orlando could be due to the fact that they are working on Sprint Spark as well.  One could hope, I guess.

 

not that I'm aware of so far, it connects to LTE fine and drops to eHRPD if it loses the signal. On my EVO it would mostly stay on eHRPD or a really bad LTE signal (around the -110 to -117 range). But with the Nexus 5, the LTE signal is between -97 and -105.

 

They are rolling out TD-LTE (Sprint Spark) for Orlando as well.

[Zandar]

Sprint data has been almost non-existent in the UCF area for the past few days. Last night at Brighthouse Stadium during the game, I could not even send a text. My son (on WIMAX) was the only one who had a decent signal. I guess they are still working on the towers in that area and the 44,000 people hitting a single tower did not help... Maybe for next game we will not be incommunicado. Go Knights!

[jamisonshaw125]

Sprint data has been almost non-existent in the UCF area for the past few days. Last night at Brighthouse Stadium during the game, I could not even send a text. My son (on WIMAX) was the only one who had a decent signal. I guess they are still working on the towers in that area and the 44,000 people hitting a single tower did not help... Maybe for next game we will not be incommunicado. Go Knights!

That must be annoying if you take a pic and try and post it to instagram, twitter, Facebook, or even just send it via messaging and it can't do it lol.  I hope they do something really serious with the towers around UCF and this entire area because the population is WAY to high for them not to have some serious high capacity stations. Once they get that alafaya tower up and then the tower at UCF, it's going to fill a huge coverage gap. Any day now...anyday.

[jacobgomez]

Thanks for the feedback on Nexus 5.  Motorola announced MotoMaker support for Sprint today but the lack of Tri-Band LTE has me a little concerned to be stuck with a Single Band LTE device for two years.  Of course, with how long it is taking to roll out Network Vision and LTE, maybe it will be another 2 years before Tri-Band is functional.

 

Decisions...Decisions.

[jamisonshaw125]

Thanks for the feedback on Nexus 5.  Motorola announced MotoMaker support for Sprint today but the lack of Tri-Band LTE has me a little concerned to be stuck with a Single Band LTE device for two years.  Of course, with how long it is taking to roll out Network Vision and LTE, maybe it will be another 2 years before Tri-Band is functional.

 

Decisions...Decisions.

I doubt that. The speed of roll out has increased significantly since the soft bank deal. I do not think it would take 2 years to at least have a decent coverage area. I personally switched from my iPhone 5 to the 5S simply because its a dual band phone and the 5 is not. 800 and 1900 should provide a decent enough coverage area for me until I can upgrade in  2 years and get a triband phone. Who knows where sprint will be by then....But 2 years, maybe to be fully complete...but you will have usable LTE way before then.

[kyle_4thousand]

UCFKnight,

 

Have you had any of the LTE problems that many are reporting with the Nexus 5?  I'm still really torn between the Moto X and Nexus 5 but the lack of tri-band support in the Moto X makes me lean heavily towards the Nexus 5.  I know LTE isn't officially rolled out here in Orlando yet but I'm able to pick it up most places I travel on my Galaxy Nexus so I wouldn't want to be stuck on 3G while they figure that out.

 

I'm curious if the slow LTE rollout in Orlando could be due to the fact that they are working on Sprint Spark as well.  One could hope, I guess.

 

 

I was at tailgate/the game and flashed the PRL for Verizon 3G data. That's the only way I can use my phone without it being stuck on the battery killing useless Sprint network at the UCF games. 

 

But a bit of good news, I have full LTE at my office in research park- they activated the tower on Alison Dr (south east side of campus/ north east side of research park). I haven't done a speed test.. but I have had no issues using spotty and pandora when I'm working.

 

HOWEVER they still have yet to activate the towers (for LTE) on W Plaza Dr just north of BHN stadium and the tower on Libra & Gemini. Should be a matter of weeks seeing that the equipment has been there for more than 3 months (W Plaza Tower), but I'm not holding my breath.

 

ALSO BEWARE that they are experiencing horrible PCS interference problems up in Chicago- This could very well creep its way down here and choke your LTE speeds down to .35 mbs

 

To be perfectly honest I'm going to grab a tri-band device as soon as they activate 800. I'm so sick of PCS and it's fragile propagation characteristics, especially in my apartment and now with its problems up north. A SMR signal will easily penetrate the concrete apartment building I live in rather than fizzle out when I walk into my bathroom like what happens now. (not just LTE, but I get completely no service) PCS is increasingly seeming to be an inferior spectrum band to use for mobile communication. I really hope sprint goes all out with 800 deployment ASAP. 

Edited November 11, 2013 by kyle_4thousand

[jamisonshaw125]

. I really hope sprint goes all out with 800 deployment ASAP. 

Yes. This x 1.5 trillion.

[djneph]

Well I finally pulled the trigger and left Sprint.  Switched to T-Mobile.  I purchased a Nexus 5 and decided to give T-Mobile a try.  Since the nexus 5 can be used on both that helped me make the move.  I decided T-Mobile can't be any worse than Sprint is and at least this way I will pay about $40/month less.  I plan on following this site and if Sprint lives up to it promises of what is to come, then I will return.  For now at least I will get a discount on my plan cost.  

 

I have been with Sprint since around 2000 and didn't want to leave, but just couldn't take the lousy service in Orlando.  When I lived in Austin, the service was great, Wimax coverage everywhere and LTE was spring up everywhere.  Hopefully this tri-band plan works out for Sprint.

[jamisonshaw125]

So was just doing some reading. I saw that sprint opted out the auction  for buying more 1900 mhz spectrum. Why?? Would that not increase their existing spectrum on 1900 and allow them to push for a greater network. I saw something about power limitations, but that gooble gabble doesn't make sense to me. Can someone explain it like if I was a five year old?

Edited November 14, 2013 by jamisonshaw125

[AMejia1976]

So was just doing some reading. I saw that sprint opted out the auction  for buying more 1900 mhz spectrum. Why?? Would that not increase their existing spectrum on 1900 and allow them to push for a greater network. I saw something about power limitations, but that gooble gabble doesn't make sense to me. Can someone explain it like if I was a five year old?

 

Biggest reason is 1900 does not propagate as well as 600 will... which most ppl think Sprint will be bidding for. So there is no point to spend $Billions now when they will need LOTS more for bidding in 600.

 

Also, the spectrum is not as close to their existing pcs holdings; this is H Block.

 

Read this also

Edited November 14, 2013 by AMejia1976

[jamisonshaw125]

Biggest reason is 1900 does not propagate as well as 600 will... which most ppl think Sprint will be bidding for. So there is no point to spend $Billions now when they will need LOTS more for bidding in 600.

 

Also, the spectrum is not as close to their existing pcs holdings; this is H Block.

 

Read this also

Oh man. Just when I thought this stuff couldn't get any more confusing...600 would definitely put sprint on a completely different level. I can be in the middle of the forest and have decent service.  I am just happy I have a phone now capable of 800 and 1900 so once they get 800 here, it'll improve things A LOT. Guess it makes sense for sprint not to buy something when they can buy something better later. Like holding off on a model of a car for the 2015 version to come around because you already say concept pictures. 

[Lkr]

I've been noticing more capacity issues at UCF this week than before.  Not sure what exactly is going on.  I saw someone in this thread mention Chicago however - could someone explain the situation there for me in a for dummies summary?  I had to fly there two weeks ago and I noticed I had LTE everywhere in the area(wasn't actually in the city, but O'Hare and surrounding areas), and it was good enough to do whatever, but a speedtest showed I only got about 2mbps.  While this is more than enough for anything on my phone, it was kinda weird to see.  I know AT&T/Verizon people post images of 40mbps+, and while I usually only get 8-15mbps in the Orlando/UCF areas(which has been going down and seems to just drop at times now, which i think is a capacity issue), it is very weird to me since other providers have such fast LTE speeds.  Now on my phone, I can't tell the difference between 10 and 40, so the bragging is stupid for me, but I am just curious as to why Sprint seems to be so much slower when they are also using LTE and have less subscribers

 

I've also noticed that I continuously get knocked from LTE to 3G on Alafaya, like there may be a problem handing off between towers.  It is very annoying because I go from listening to Spotify just fine to not being able to load a text webpage

Edited November 15, 2013 by Lkr

[AMejia1976]

I've been noticing more capacity issues at UCF this week than before.  Not sure what exactly is going on.  I saw someone in this thread mention Chicago however - could someone explain the situation there for me in a for dummies summary?  I had to fly there two weeks ago and I noticed I had LTE everywhere in the area(wasn't actually in the city, but O'Hare and surrounding areas), and it was good enough to do whatever, but a speedtest showed I only got about 2mbps.  While this is more than enough for anything on my phone, it was kinda weird to see.  I know AT&T/Verizon people post images of 40mbps+, and while I usually only get 8-15mbps in the Orlando/UCF areas(which has been going down and seems to just drop at times now, which i think is a capacity issue), it is very weird to me since other providers have such fast LTE speeds.  Now on my phone, I can't tell the difference between 10 and 40, so the bragging is stupid for me, but I am just curious as to why Sprint seems to be so much slower when they are also using LTE and have less subscribers

 

I've also noticed that I continuously get knocked from LTE to 3G on Alafaya, like there may be a problem handing off between towers.  It is very annoying because I go from listening to Spotify just fine to not being able to load a text webpage

 

Chicago was due to an issue back in the begining when there were issues with the old/legacy equipment and the new one when handing off from one tower to the other; Tower A had old/legacy and Tower B was NV complete. That has mostly been erradicated.

 

There has also been an issue in a few areas where customers are using newly available Tri-Band phones and the way the network/phones interact. Read this post or this thread if you would like more info.

 

As for people posting pictures of their LTE speeds in other networks the speeds pictured are mostly on unloaded towers; meaning there are few users on it. While those speeds are possible they are the exeption and not the norm. To give you an ided; Verizon recently said some of their customers in certain markets are seen 3G like speeds due to congestion. Fastest speed I have been able to achieve was 27mbps and this was at 5:00 AM in a tower where there is a small load.

 

Hope this has helped answer some of your questions.

[KD8JBF]

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Kris

[jamisonshaw125]

 

 

I've also noticed that I continuously get knocked from LTE to 3G on Alafaya, like there may be a problem handing off between towers.  It is very annoying because I go from listening to Spotify just fine to not being able to load a text webpage

Alafaya is a road of evil. The towers near and on that road are being upgraded as we speak. The one at N Alafaya and Colonial is being worked on, and I know the one in UCF is being worked on too. 

[jamisonshaw125]

FINALLY confused my phone into field test mode so I can see the signal strength. If you have iOS 7 and have been having difficulty with this here is what you do. Launch Field test. *3001#12345#*  go up to the signal strength and tap on it once, and then again back to numbers. Hold power off button until turn of slider comes on, and then click home button. Should work.

[jamisonshaw125]

goldenrod and university. Very nice speeds.

[UCFKnight]

 

From my bedroom, off Aloma Ave in Winter Park.

Edited November 16, 2013 by UCFKnight

[mauricehall]

This was inside of Home Depot on colonial and silver star... Amazeballs!

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

 

[djneph]

I am waiting for my T-Mobile SIMs to arrive, in the meantime I was able to get my hands on an elusive Sprint Micro SIM.  I was surprised to find LTE in Lake Nona area, good signal all day, I was getting about 12/2 speeds.  Today I went to Florida Mall and while inside Sears I was able to use my phone to comparison shop.  I was only getting about 5/2 speeds, but it was enough to do some comp. shopping.  On the other side, I was at Millennium Mall and was stuck on 3g.  Was trying to do some comparison shopping but was unable, speeds were 0.250/0.04.  

 

It seems like Sprint is definitely headed in the write direction, but how long will it take to cover all of Orlando.  I can't blame those not on contracts for walking away.  Not knowing how long I would have to wait for decent service is why I am leaving for now.  

[jamisonshaw125]

I've only been up here for 6 months and the areas that I have experienced LTE have increased... Almost daily. Just today I was at a friends house where I didn't have LTE a week ago, and now I do. I think it's just a matter of getting the gaps filled in. It's filling up pretty quick.

Edited November 17, 2013 by jamisonshaw125